What are you reading?

[CCL]

Please do so, JavaJo. I'm about to start a new book (The Last Dragonslayer by Jasper Fforde) but it might be my choice after that one is done.

[Cootie]

I just finished "Ender's Game" by Orson Scott Card and am on to "If I Stay" by Gayle Forman. Both YA books. I did enjoy Ender's Game. Science Fiction is something I don't read very often, but I liked this one. I was intrigued by the age of the characters and what they were challenged to do.

[Critical]

I just started The Forgery of Venus by Michael Gruber, a thriller involving (duh) art forgery. It's for my book club and, even though we don't meet for a few weeks, I want to make sure I finish it. I've been rereading GRR Martin's Song of Ice and Fire series and I just finished book 2 this afternoon. I totally blew off last month's book club selection because I was reading book 1. I know that if I pick up book 3 now, I won't finish the book club book in time. One of the people in the book club has already read the Gruber and she said it's really good, so I hope it will hold my attention long enough for me to finish it without picking up A Storm of Swords!

Cootie I loved Ender's Game! Sometimes, a book is so good that it transcends its genre. Card has written some other fantastic books, but that one is still my favorite.

[obsession57]

I haven't been here in a long time but enjoy seeing what others are reading. I've just finished The Life and Times of Henrietta Lacks and State of Wonder by Ann Patchett. Highly recommended both! Currently finishing Saving CeeCee Honeycutt--took a trip last weekend and almost got through the whole book on my flights. Thinking of starting The Sun Also Rises by Ernest Hemingway because my book group is going to discuss The Paris Wife, which I've already finished. He was writing The Sun Also Rises during his first marriage.

[prhoshay]

I've had the Henrietta Lacks book highly recommended to me by someone that usually has my same tastes in books. I am looking forward to checking it out!

[AJane]

I keep seeing The Night Circus on the shelves at Indigo but have hesitated picking it up...I wouldn't mind a review either, JavaJo.

I've been re-reading Clive Barker's Arabat series because the third book has finally been released! My daughter and I are racing through Book 2 to see who gets to start the new one (Absolute Midnight) first. If anyone is looking for a young adult series (maturity level equal to the last couple of Harry Potter books and The Hunger Games) this one is a lot of fun. The new book is heavily illustrated with Barker's paintings, created especially for this trilogy. Readers should not be frightened away from this series for older kids because of Barker's reputation for gore - it has all of his fantastic imagination but minus the adult content.

[JavaJo]

The Night Circus...I'm reading it on my Kindle and am 39% of the way through. So far, I'm finding it enjoyable. I have no idea where it's going but I can't wait to find out. I still don't understand the rules or the purpose of the competition but I don't care. It follows three storylines that interweave but she doesn't linger on one story long enough to bore you OR to figure out exactly what's going on. It's a mystery without murder or mayhem. It's really a tough book to describe. The author doesn't reach out and grab you with action packed scenes but she kind of tugs you along with beautifully descriptive words and her wonderful imagination. And I want the clock that was made for the circus. It sounds enchanting.

I'm not even halfway through yet but I would seriously recommend it to everyone. I get lost in it and wish I had more time to read. Stupid job. Stupid bills.

[CCL]

You have me convinced JavaJo. Maybe the author should cut you a cheque for recommending it to others. Would help with the bills.

[Critical]

Okay, you guys totally talked me into The Night Circus! I contacted the publishing rep to get a copy.

I'm WAY into The Forgery of Venus now - I'm on page 195 - and while, yes, A Storm of Swords is tempting me, this book is really good...obviously, since I'm nearly 200 pages into it and only started it last night! It's really hard to describe. It's not really a thriller, so far. Here's the Publisher's Weekly write-up:

Bestseller Gruber (The Book of Air and Shadows) probes the boundaries between sanity and madness in his outstanding sixth novel. Talented Chaz Wilmot, who makes a modest living as a commercial artist in New York City, can't say no when Mark Slade, his former Columbia roommate who now owns a downtown gallery, offers him $150,000 to fix a ruined Tiepolo ceiling in a Venetian palazzo (the ceiling had essentially collapsed, so it wasn't a restoration job exactly but more like a reproducing job). Once abroad, Wilmot gets sucked into an increasingly bizarre world where his own identity is confused and the art he produces may be a forgery but is genuinely magnificent. Is Wilmot crazy or is he being manipulated in a grandiose scheme linked to unrecovered art stolen by the Nazis? Gruber writes passionately and knowledgeably about art and its history—and he writes brilliantly about the shadowy lines that blur reality and unreality. Fans of intelligent, literate thrillers will be well rewarded.

If anyone is interested (and I swear I don't work for this site), bookcloseouts.com has the book for $4.99: BookCloseOuts.com - The Forgery of Venus Plus, they have free shipping for orders over $35 and believe me, that is not a hard total to get to! It's one of those sites where you might not find what you're looking for, but you'll definitely find a lot you want.

[JavaJo]

I finished the book late last night. I absolutely loved it, although I think it's one of those books I'm going to need to read twice because I'm sure I missed little things along the way. I hope those of you who choose to read it enjoy it as much as I did.